Progressive American Thought

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

A new progressive movement is
gaining strength inside the Democratic Party. This movement is the resistance to
the fascistic government of Donald Trump, or, in short, the Trumpistas. The new
progressive movement is the means by which we can restore the American democracy
and the American dream.

There are two enormously promising recent developments
behind the emergence of the new progressive movement.

First, inspired by the 2016
Presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, thousands of his volunteers became
permanent organizers for progressive ideas and candidates. Many now are in
leadership positions inside the Democratic Party. New progressive organizations
such as the Justice Democrats and Our Revolution were formed. Existing ones such
as MoveOn and the Progressive Democrats of America gained increased support.
There now are many different progressive organizations, some focused on national
issues, others more on state and local issues. While there is no dominant
organization, nor likely to be one, the combined force of all of these
different groups promises to be enormous in the future.

Second, huge numbers of women and
minority Democratic Party are candidates for public office at all levels of government.
Some already have had success. A majority of women have been voting Democratic (a
slight minority of whites but overwhelming majorities of minorities) but there
were not large numbers of them running for public office until now. Their
numbers are giving new definition to the term “progressive,” something it has lacked
since the early years of the 20th Century.

The first progressive movement
began in the first decade of the 20th Century as a revolt against
the “Gilded Age” of extreme wealth and income inequality, massive consolidation
of industries, corrupt political machines of both parties, and ineffectual
government. In many ways it was similar to the present. President Theodore Roosevelt,
a Republican, embraced progressive ideas as a counter to the rapidly growing
socialist movement he feared would result in a violent revolution.

Progressives differed from conservatives
and socialists over the role of government. Conservatives favored "laissez
faire" – hands off - when it came to government's role in the economy and
as a regulator, as they still do. The Socialists, led by Eugene Debs, wanted to
overthrow the capitalist system. Progressives did not wish to overthrow the
capitalist system. They believed that government should play a major role in
the economy and in the regulation of business to tame the destructive characteristics
of capitalism. Roosevelt said progressivism could save capitalism from itself.

Progressives differed from
libertarians in two major ways. Progressives believed in the social contract, that
citizens in a democracy have responsibilities to one another and may have to
give up some freedom to ensure that everyone has freedom. Libertarians deny the
social contract. Libertarians believed in individual freedom and are deeply
suspicious of, if not downright hostile, to government. Progressives believed that
government could be a means to expand, rather than limit, individual freedom.

This was the essence of early progressivism.
It was not an ideology. It was a philosophy of government and governance. It
defined the duties of government and public officials, which were to serve the
needs of the people, not the special interests. Government officials were
expected to act honestly and intelligently.[1]
They followed Abraham Lincoln’s statement that the duty of government is to do
for the people what they need to have done but what they cannot do for
themselves.

Its big, optimistic, idea was in
its name: progress. Things could be changed for the better. People could
improve themselves. Life could be made better. The world could be made better. It
was at the heart of the idea of the American dream. It was the counter to the pessimistic
Social Darwinist theory of survival of the fittest that developed in the late
1800s.

The Social Darwinists believed that
the world could not be improved, that many are not fit, or not able to improve
themselves, and do not deserve help from others. That Social Darwinist concept also
is behind the economic “trickle down” theory so popular with Republicans that
as the rich get richer a little wealth trickles down to the lower classes. It
has been well-proven that very little trickles down. In fact, over the past 40
years as the rich got richer, as the number of billionaires went from a couple
of dozen to more than 500, almost everyone else got poorer.

It has been many years since
progressives controlled the national government and the term has lost its
meaning. Today, if you were to ask people in general what progressive means, a substantial
number might answer “no idea,” or “liberal.” “Progressive” routinely has been
used as a substitute for “liberal” since the 1970s when “liberal” became an
epithet. With the growth of progressive candidates and progressive
organizations, we now can see progressivism being redefined. As it turns out it
is very much like early progressivism.

Our national government, and many
state and local governments, are failing to do their duty to the people. There
are solutions to our problems that progressives would implement if they gain
the support of the people. There are common themes in this new progressive
movement: universal health care; increased funding of public schools; reduced
cost of college education; expanded affordable housing; criminal law and prison
reform; racial justice; getting money out of politics; improved transportation
and public transit; a much higher minimum wage; programs to fight climate
change and economic inequality, including reversing portions of the Trump tax
cut.

Opponents call the new progressive
movement leftist, socialist, even communist, but it is none of them. We need to
tell the people that the ideas and programs of progressives are as American as
the proverbial apple pie. They aren’t new ideas. They are not radical. They are
practical ideas and programs that would be of enormous benefit to the vast
majority of the American people. Many different polls show that progressive
ideas are supported by a majority of the people.

Most of the ideas and programs of the
21st Century progressive movement come from some of our greatest
leaders in the past, from periods of our history when great progress was made
for the American people.

In fact, virtually every federal
government program supported by the vast majority of the American people was
enacted during one of the three brief periods in the 20th Century
when progressives controlled the national government. A list of such achievements
follows this article and can be read below.

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, after
being out of office for four years, ran for President again. When the Republican
Party bosses denied him the nomination, he helped to create the Progressive
Party. He called the Progressive Party Platform the most important document
since the Emancipation Proclamation 50 years earlier.

That platform proposed strict limits
on campaign contributions and expenditures, a living wage, health, unemployment
and old age insurance, and strict regulations on corporations.

In 1944, Theodore’s cousin,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had guided the nation out of the Great Depression in
the 1930s with his “New Deal,” proposed a Second Bill of Rights. He said the
first Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, had proved
unable to assure equality in the pursuit of happiness. He proposed an economic
bill of rights that would guarantee:

- The right to a living wage;

- Freedom from unfair competition and
monopolies;

- The right of farmers to receive a
fair income;

- The right to housing;

- The right to medical care;

- The right to social security;

- The right to education.

Much of the Progressive Platform of
1912 and of FDR’s Second Bill of Rights have yet to be realized. Many of their
ideas were revived in 2016 by Bernie Sanders. Now, with progressive candidates
inspired and supported by Bernie – according to some polls, the most popular
politician in America – there is hope that many of these ideas finally will be
realized.

Where these progressive candidates
are is where the Democratic Party needs to be. The Democratic Party only will succeed
if it has candidates who are tuned to the needs of the people. These
progressive candidates are re-energizing the party, attracting huge numbers of
volunteers, and sparking an enormous amount of voter registration, especially
among young people.

With this energy the Democratic Party
may regain control of Congress this year and the Presidency in 2020. Our future
can be much brighter than current events portend. However, it is going to take
a national concerted effort to support and finance progressive candidates and
get out the vote for them. Voter registrations do not mean much if the voters
do not vote.

If we give these emerging leaders
of the Democratic Party strong support over the next few years, progressive
Democrats will gain control of the national government as well as many state and
local governments. If that happens, the obscenity we are living through now
will be just a nightmare of our past.

As they have done previously when
they had the support of the people, progressives once again will save the
nation. We must make that happen. We owe that to our heritage, to our children
and grandchildren, and to the world.

[1]For a contemporary view of
early 20th Century Progressivism, see Hochstein, Irma. A
Progressive Primer.Madison:
Wisconsin Women's Progressive Association, 1922.“We must elect to represent us in the city
councils and in the legislative bodies, men and women who understand the
problems of government and who are honestly endeavoring to pass laws so that no
injustice will be done to the people's interests.” p. 10. and “The progressive
in politics is one who sees what the next steps are in bringing a better
civilization, and who knows how to take those steps without being retarded.” p
62http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/56073

--------------

Nearly of the major national government programs serving much of the
population were enacted during three brief periods of American history when
progressives controlled the Presidency and, much of the time, the Congress.

This is a list of accomplishments in the first progressive period,
1901-1917. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Republican, 1901-1909; William Howard
Taft, Republican,1909-1913; Woodrow Wilson, Democrat: 1913-1921 (progressive
period ends with U.S. entry into World War I in 1917)

Significant expansion of the role and powers of the President,
the federal government and the civil
service;

The commission system of local
government;

Women gained the right to vote;

The Referendum;

Recall;

Direct election of U.S. Senators;

Public ownership and operation of urban
transit systems;

Clayton Anti-Trust Act which provided
the first legal rights to unions, forbidding the use of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against them.

The first antitrust suit by the federal
government;

The breakup of the Standard Oil
monopoly;

The graduated income tax;

The inheritance tax;

Major reductions in tariffs;

Prohibitions against child labor and
workplace exploitations;

Protections against contaminated food
and medicines;

Hundreds of millions of acres of
protected wilderness areas, waterways and national parks;

The Federal Reserve System.

Here
is a list of the major accomplishments of the 2nd progressive
period: 1933-1941 (ends with entry into World War II). President: Franklin
Roosevelt (cousin of Theodore), Democrat, 1933-1945.

Great expansion of the role and powers
of the Presidency and the federal government, particularly
in the national economy;

Bank and Wall Street regulation,
including the Glass-Steagall Act, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities
and Exchange Commission;

Huge investments in infrastructure
through the Civil Works Administration, the Public Works Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the
Works Progress Administration, and
the Civilian Conservation Corps;

Social Security;

The Federal Housing Administration,
providing financing for home purchases

The eight-hour workday and 40-hour work
week;

The minimum wage;

The right to organize unions and engage
in collective bargaining;

Worker’s compensation and unemployment
insurance.

Here
is a list of many of the accomplishments of the 3rd progressive
period: 1961-1969. Presidents John Kennedy, Democrat, 1961-1963; Lyndon
Johnson, Democrat, 1963-1969

In 1965, greatest
number of bills passed by Congress in one session in history

The Peace Corps;

VISTA;

Medicare;

Medicaid;

Head Start;

The Childrens Health
Insurance Program;

Income support for below-poverty level working people;

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting;

National Public Radio (NPR)

Public Broadcasting System (PBS)

Fair
Housing and Public Accommodations laws providing freedom for anyone to buy a home
anywhere, and to be served in any business establishment open to the public;

Economic
Opportunity Act of 1964, which created an Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)
to oversee a variety of community-based antipoverty programs overall called the
“War on Poverty,” which reduced the percentage of people living below the
poverty line from 22.2 percent in 1963 to 12.6 percent in 1970. It is about
14.5 percent today.

Food
Stamp Act of 1964;

Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

Higher
Education Act of 1965, which increased federal money given to universities,
created scholarships and low-interest loans for students, and established a
national Teacher Corps to provide teachers to poverty-stricken areas of the
United States;

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden;

National
Endowment for the Arts;

National
Endowment for the Humanities;

The
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts;

The
Department of Transportation;

The
Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964;

Cigarette
Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965;

The
Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 set standards through creation of the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration;

The
Child Safety Act of 1966;

The
Flammable Fabrics Act of 1967;

Wholesome Meat Act of 1967;

The
Truth-in-Lending Act of 1968 required lenders and credit providers to disclose
the full cost of finance charges in both dollars and annual percentage rates,
on installment loan and sales;

Links to audio clips of Theodore Roosevelt speeches

TR in the West

Click on photo to go to the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University

Robert LaFollette

Click on his photo to see a film, with sound, of a campaign speech of Robert LaFollette in 1924, when he ran for President on the Progressive Party ticket, urging the people to be “aggressive” in resisting corporate power and influence. He received 17% of the vote and carried only Wisconsin. He died the next year. The father of Progressivism, Robert LaFollette was the first to use the word “Progressive” to describe the movement he started in Wisconsin. He first was Governor of Wisconsin and then was a Senator. From Wikipedia: “In 1957, a Senate Committee selected La Follette as one of the five greatest U.S. Senators, along with Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, and Robert Taft. A 1982 survey asking historians to rank the "ten greatest Senators in the nation's history" based on "accomplishments in office" and "long range impact on American history," placed La Follette first, tied with Henry Clay.”

Definition of Progressivism

In using the term “progressive” I mean what it meant in its early years, a philosophy of government, or governance, of the proper role of government in a democracy, and how public officials carry out their responsibilities to the people. Progressive government can be a force for good when it limits its activities to doing those things that need to be done but cannot be done by the people for themselves. The duty of public officials is to all the people, not to special interests.

Progressivism is not a synonym for liberalism, as it often is used today. Today's progressives probably are liberal in many, if not most, of their beliefs, but not all liberals are progressives. Although a descendant of classic liberalism, true progressivism is not ideological. It is pragmatic. It is neither liberal nor conservative, nor Democrat nor Republican. It is not capitalistic, nor socialistic. It seeks to make the existing system work, and that sometimes means protecting capitalism from itself by taming its most aggressive features through legislation and regulation.

Most of the early Progressives were Republicans; the later ones, Democrats. Progressives are problem-solvers and they will borrow ideas from both political parties, as well as from any other source, if the ideas present a practical solution to an important problem.

Basic pragmatic progressivism is more consistent with the American character than any other governmental philosophy, and its historic leaders have been - sometimes, for other reasons, only briefly - among the most popular leaders the nation ever has had. We can solve our major problems with another progressive period of government. I believe this can be made to happen with the right kind of leadership, programs and strategies, which I describe in this book.

- Introduction, Let's Do What Works and Call it Capitalism, by Dan Riker. Excerpts of this as-year unpublished book are posted on this blog, on http://www.danriker.blogspot.com and on http://www.dailykos.com.